Combination pillow speaker and control unit



p 1967 A. ROBBINS I 3,342,285

COMBINATION PILLOW SPEAKER AND CONTROL UNIT Filed Dec. 19, 1966INVENTOR. ALEX ROBBINS ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,342,285COMBINATION PILLOW SPEAKER AND CONTROL UNIT Alex Robbins, Jamaica, N.Y.,assignor to Standard Systems Communications Corporation, PortWashington, N.Y.

Filed Dec. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 602,809 4 Claims. (Cl. 181-31) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE The plastic speaker housing of this invention is capableof being handheld or used as a pillow speaker.

This invention relates generally to speakers and more particularly tosuch apparatus classified as pillow speakers.

The prior art has many examples of pillow speakers in the same generalclass as the present invention. However, to the best of applicantsknowledge, none of the prior art devices exhibit all of the advantageousfeatures available in the device to be described hereinafter. Statedanother way, the present invention overcomes many of the shortcomings inthe prior art devices.

The present invention includes an elongated housing that is nearelliptical in cross section. One end of the housing is recessed toaccommodate the actuating means for the combined speaker and controlunit while the opposite end of the housing permits entry of theconnecting cable. Internally, the housing contains all of the speakercomponents as well as the necessary switches and connections to permitusage of the device as a remote signaling device. As indicated in thedrawing, the speaker faces the side of the housing which is providedwith a plurality of suitable apertures.

Because the external controls are recessed, the user cannotinadvertently be hurt thereby. This is an important consideration sincethe device is in use while the individual is dozing or sleeping.

The unit may'safely be placed under the pillow without danger ofactuating the controls. Sufiicient sound will penetrate the pillow andyet very little sound will be radiated to the room.-Thus the likelihoodof disturbing other people in the room is minimized. This isparticularly advantageous inwa hospital, for example, where there arefrequently several patients in a single room.

In addition,'the two-part housing is made of different materials. Thebody of the housing is molded of a plastic such as high impact styrene.The front of the housing, which is the portion that recesses thecontrols, is made of a more resilient material such as polyethylene.Should the speaker fall off a bed or night table, and since the cordextends from one end, it will almost always land on the other end andthe impact will be cushioned by the polyethylene housing.

The present invention has a wide range of utility. A volume controlpermits listening to a radio or TV set at the desired sound level.Pushbuttons may be incorporated to permit remote channel selection forTV programs and radio programs.

A push button may also be provided for use as a call button. If the unitis connected to a conventional nursecall system in a hospital it maythen function as a microphone.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved combination pillow speaker and control unit.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the characterdescribed wherein the controls are recessed within the housing envelope.

Still another object is to provide a multipart housing wherein theportion thereof that recesses the controls is adapted to cushion theimpact that results when the device is dropped.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pillow speaker havingimproved acoustical efficiency, thus allowing a higher percentage ofelectrical power to be converted into acoustical sound pressure.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described wherein there is a tethered end and a free endfabricated of an impact cushioning Plastic.

These and other features, objects and advantages of the invention will,in part, be pointed out with particularity and will, in part, becomeobvious from the following FIG. 2, the internal components having beenremoved for clarity;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the forward end ofthe housing;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view, partly broken away, showing thespeaker mounting means; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of typical internal components.

Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, itwill be seen that the device 10 is comprised of rear housing section 12molded of a suitable high impact plastic such as polypropylene and aforward housing section 14 molded of polyethylene. Should the device bedropped it will almost always land on the forward end or untethered end.The polyethylene construction provides a. good cushioning effect to theresultant impact force.

Front housing section 14 is provided with an integral transverse wall 16that is disposed inwardly of the forwardmost part of the device. Asshown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, suitable cutouts such as 18a, 18b, 18c and18d are formed in end wall 16 in order to permit mounting of switches20a, 20b and 20c, as well as a volume control knob 22 thereon. It shouldbe clearly understood that this particular combination of components isused by way of explanation only and that other components moreapplicable to a given requirement may be substituted.

As may best be seen in FIG. 3, circumferential wall 24 of the fronthousing, in combination with the transverse wall 16, provides anenclosure for the switches and volume control knob. Thus there is lesslikelihood for any of these members to be inadvertently activated. Thecircumferential wall also shields the external control means from beingdamaged should the device be dropped. It Will be apparent from thedrawing that the control means are at the same time both accessible andshielded.

The periphery of transverse Wall 16 is spaced from wall 24 to define anannular channel 26. The open end 28 of the rear housing is stepped downand dimensioned to be snugly received in the annular channel. Inaddition, the inside surface of wall 24 is provided with an annulargroove 30 that is arranged to receive outwardly extending projections 32formed on the outside surface of the stepped down end 28 of the rearhousing. By this means, the two housing sections can be easily snappedtogether after the unit is assembled and yet may be just as readilytaken apart should subsequent servicing be required. It will be evidentthen that a smooth continuous outside housing surface is providedwithout the need for any closure hardware that would be more costly touse and which may be dangerous should there be projections. Additionalholding means such as cement, pins, flush mounted screws, etc., may beused for final sealing where a tamper-proof unit is required.

FIG. 6 is intended to show a particular combination of components thatmay be used although it should be clearly understood that the inventionis not limited to this specific arrangement. One side of rear housing 12is perforated, as shown by reference charcter 34, in order to provideacoustical coupling means between speaker 36 and the outside air.

In a typical installation knob 22 varies the arm of volume control 38 tocontrol the amplitude of the signal driving speaker 36. Switch 20a, whenclosed momentarily, actuates holding relay 21 which turns signal light23a on over the door of the patients room. Switch 20a also turns onsignal light 23b and actuates buzzer 25. The nurse manually closes resetswitch 27 to restore the holding relay to its initial condition. Switch20b is shown connected to stepping relay 42 commonly found in remotelycontrolled TV sets to change channels and turn the set on and olf.Switch 20c may be used to control lamp 44 by means of relay 46.

The mounting means for speaker 36 is shown in FIG. 3 and in FIG. 5. Incontrast to much of the prior art, the speaker in the unit is notmounted tightly against the inside of the perforated housing whichdefines the bafiie. Instead the speaker is resiliently mounted with aspace between the speaker face and the bafile. In a vertical plane anelastic, foam plastic spacer 50 is placed above and below the speakerrim and a similar spacer 52 is placed behind the speaker. Optionally,other similar spacers could be interposed between the speaker cone andthe rear housing Wall. To permit simplified assembly the spacers arecoated on both sides with cement. The housing may also be modified bythe inclusion of bleeder holes 34a on the rear surface. Improvedacoustical characteristics are thereby provided by the combination ofspatial mounting and the open cell foam material.

The device described hereinabove and illustrated by the drawing providesan improved lightweight pillow speaker and control unit that may easilybe held in the hand but which is of minimum bulk so that it does notinterfere with ones sleep or rest. The recessed controls areconveniently located but unlikely to be accidentally activated. Thehousing is in two parts, one of which exhibits high strength to protectthe internal components, the other housing section being designed toabsorb the shock should the device be dropped onto a hard surface.Because the unit will almost always fall on the shock absorbing end, itis unlikely that serious damage will be done. Although not specificallyillustrated, it is within the scope of this invention to provide aself-contained battery-operated unit or a device that is operated by themore conventional power source.

Having thus disclosed the best embodiment of the invention presentlycontemplated, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination pillow speaker and control unit comprising:

(a) a tubular shell having a plurality of apertures for the transmissionof sound and having a major longitudinal axis and a generally oval shapein a plane transverse to the longitudinal axis;

(b) a wall transverse to the major axis and set in from an open end ofsaid shell to define an open chamber for receiving control means;

(c) Wall means closing the other end of said shell to define a speakerenclosure; and

(d) a speaker mounted within the speaker enclosure with the axis alongwhich the speaker normally propagates sound transverse to the major axisof said shell and proximate to the apertures in said shell.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the tubular shell portion extendingfrom said transverse wall to the open end is formed of a resilientplastic.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said tubular shell comprises a firstportion extending from the transverse wall to the open end which iscomposed of a plastic which is more resilient than that of a secondportion which comprises said speaker enclosure, and integral lockingmeans for retaining said first and said second portions in an assembledcondition.

4. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein there is interposedresilient mounting means between said speaker and said shell.

References Cited Detrick 1813l STEPHEN J. TOMSKY, Primary Examiner.

1. A COMBINATION PILLOW SPEAKER AND CONTROL UNIT COMPRISING: (A) ATUBULAR SHELL HAVING A PLURALITY OF APERTURES FOR THE TRANSMISSION OFSOUND AND HAVING AND HAVING A MAJOR LONGITUDINAL AXIS AND A GENERALLYOVAL SHAPE IN A PLANE TRANSVERSE TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS; (B) A WALLTRANSVERSE TO THE MAJOR AXIS AND SET IN FROM AN OPEN END OF SAID SHELLTO DEFINE AN OPEN CHAMBER FOR RECEIVING CONTROL MEANS; (C) WALL MEANSCLOSING THE OTHER END OF SAID SHELL TO DEFINE A SPEAKER ENCLOSURE; AND